He said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As Yahweh lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.”
Parallel Translations
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He said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As Yahweh lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.”
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And he said, They were my brethren, even the sons of my mother: as the LORD liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you.
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And he said: 'They were my brethren, the sons of my mother; as the LORD liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you.'
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain We came all out of one belly: therefore I…
We came all out of one belly: therefore I will be revenged.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jdg 8:19 And he said, They [were] my brethren,…
Jdg 8:19 And he said, They [were] my brethren, [even] the sons of my mother: [as] the LORD liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you.
Ver. 19. I would not slay you.] As now I must, both as an avenger of blood {Num 25:7-8} and as a magistrate; for Bonis nocet qui malis parcit, to restrain justice is to support sin: and not to correct, is to consent to the crime.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain For being not Canaanites he was not obliged to…
For being not Canaanites he was not obliged to kill them; but they having killed his brethren, and that in cool blood, he was by law the avenger of their blood.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And he said, they were my brethren, even the…
And he said, they were my brethren, even the sons of my mother,.... His brethren by his mother's side, but not by his father's side; or the phrase
the sons of my mother is added, to show that he did not mean brethren in a large sense, as all the Israelites were, but in a strict sense, being so nearly related as his mother's children:
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as the Lord liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you; for not being Canaanites, he was not obliged by the law of God to put them to death, and by the law of nations, as they had surrendered themselves, and were made prisoners of war, they ought to have been saved; but as they appeared to be murderers, and had slain the Israelites in cold blood, they deserved to die; and the persons they had slain being Gideon's brethren, he was the avenger of blood, and it became him to put them to death.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain I would not slay - For being not Canaanites,…
I would not slay - For being not Canaanites, he was not obliged to kill them; but they having killed his brethren, and that in cool blood, he was by law the avenger of their blood.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jdg 8:19. If ye had saved them alive, &c.…
Jdg 8:19. If ye had saved them alive, &c. — For, as they were not Canaanites, he was not obliged by any command of God to put them to death: but as they had killed his brethren, and that, it seems, in cold blood, he was, by God’s law, the avenger of their death, being their near kinsman.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The sons of my mother - A much closer…
The sons of my mother - A much closer relation than that of brothers by the father only. (Compare Gen 43:29; Deu 13:6; Psa 69:8). This is the only hint preserved of the transaction. We cannot say exactly when the slaughter of Gideon’s brethren on Mount Tabor took place, whether before the outbreak of the war Jdg 6:33, or in the retreat and flight of the Midianites Jdg 7:22.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Kill you. They were not included in the number…
Kill you. They were not included in the number of the seven devoted nations, (Worthington) and the precept for destroying the Madianites no longer subsisted, Numbers xxxi. 17. (Menochius) --- The laws of war permitted the Hebrews to kill their prisoners, if they thought proper. No public executioner was necessary. Samuel killed Agag, 1 Kings xv. 32. See 3 Kings ii. 25., and 2 Kings i. 15. (Calmet) --- Gedeon had a mind to make his son partake in the victory, and punish these kings for an unjust murder of his relations. He would also inure him to fight against the enemies of God, &c. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain They were my brethren, even the sons of my…
They were my brethren, even the sons of my mother--That is, uterine brothers; but, in all countries where polygamy prevails, "the son of my mother" implies a closeness of relationship and a warmth of affection never awakened by the looser term, "brother."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 19. the sons of my mother] and not only…
19. the sons of my mother] and not only of the same father; they were therefore specially dear, cf. Gen_43:29. On Gideon as next of kin fell the duty of avenging his brothers’ blood; cf. 2Sa_3:27; 2Sa_3:30; 2Sa_14:7; 2Sa_21:5-6. The execution was a judicial act, even an act of religious obligation.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (19) The sons of my mother.—Comp. Gen_43:29.
(19) The sons of my mother.—Comp. Gen_43:29.
As the Lord liveth.—Rth_3:13; 1Sa_14:41. (Comp. Æn. xii. 949.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.